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‘We Are Still In’: Rahm Emanuel’s Futile and Stupid Virtue Signaling
Tim Benson, Washington Examiner
You have probably heard the term “virtue signaling,” which refers to saying or doing something to signal that you are more virtuous than other people. If you are a politician, a good way to signal your virtue these days is to take the “We Are Still In” pledge—a commitment to meet the Paris climate accord’s carbon-dioxide emissions reduction goals despite President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Chicago Mayor (and former Obama chief of staff) Rahm Emanuel, among many others, is making a complete fool of himself by pledging allegiance to this ridiculous, useless pledge. READ MORE
The Supreme Court’s Bias for ‘Progressive’ Plaintiffs
Rob Natelson, The Hill
Two new U.S. Supreme Court decisions illustrate the point: Even conservative litigants should argue their cases so as to genuflect before the legal elite’s “progressive” faith. Courts are supposed to apply the law neutrally. When construing the Constitution, this means they should apply the original, actual meaning of the document. Yet the Supreme Court often decides cases in ways divorced from that meaning. READ MORE
Trump Defends Western Values in Speech to the Polish People
S.T. Karnick, American Exceptionalism
In his best speech yet, this one delivered in Warsaw, Poland on Thursday, President Donald Trump powerfully asserted an unabashed belief in the values and institutions of Western Civilization. Its survival, he said, rests on our determination to defend those values against threats both outside and inside our borders. The strength of a nation, Trump argues, is in the devotion of its people to it, and in particular to its history and culture. READ MORE
Featured Podcast: Tim Huelskamp on the Tony Katz Show
The incoming president of The Heartland Institute, former U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas), who entered office in the Tea Party wave of 2010, was a guest on Tony Katz Today on WIBC-FM in Indianapolis. Tim, who goes way back with Tony, talked about health care reform, what’s going wrong in Washington these days, and him soon taking the reins at Heartland. Listen to the whole hour with Tony Katz. Tim comes in starting at the 12:34 mark, when Tony sets him up. LISTEN TO MORE
HEARTLAND’S PODCASTS NOW ON SOUND CLOUD
Heartland’s podcasts have grown steadily since going “daily” in 2010—on pace for nearly two million downloads in 2017 on iTunes! Now, the Heartland Daily Podcast is also available on SoundCloud, so you have yet another convenient and dynamic way to listen to the country’s best podcasts on school reform, budgets, taxes, health care, environment, energy, and constitutional reform. Follow us on SoundCloud, and grab the easy-to-use player to embed on your own blogs or social media accounts. CLICK HERE
Summer Is the Perfect Time to Practice Parent-Centered Education
Teresa Mull, American Spectator
In most parts of the United States, “school’s out for summer!” Commercials on television and radio have started advertising waterparks and other nearby amusements, repeating promises for “keeping your kids from getting bored this summer.” And while outdoor physical activity is important, the summer recess is the perfect time to dive head-first into parent-centric education. READ MORE
Armstong: United Nations’ IPCC Climate Forecasts Violate Scientific Method
Environment & Climate News Managing Editor H. Sterling Burnett engaged in a fascinating Q&A with J. Scott Armstrong, recipient of this year’s “Lifetime Achievement in Climate Science Award” at the 12th International Conference on Climate Change. Armstrong says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change violates each of the basic criteria of the scientific method. Armstrong is a pioneer in the science of forecasting, and no one knows the field of environmental forecasting better than he does. READ MORE
Bonus Podcast: Ben Boychuk and Jim Lakely Discuss Liberty and the Founding Generation on Independence Day
Heartland Institute Director of Communications Jim Lakely and Policy Advisor Ben Boychuk, managing editor of the online magazine American Greatness, discuss American exceptionalism and the Founding Generation to celebrate Independence Day. The two patriots talk about how every Independence Day barbeque should include discussions about liberty—and even the reading of patriotic texts, such as the Declaration of Independence. LISTEN TO MORE
Washington Is Rigged to Feed the Beast on ObamaCare
Peter Ferrara, Newsbusters
On the question of health care reform, as on every other public policy issue, the Washington establishment has rigged the game so that the only reasonable answer is more government power and control: more taxes, more regulations, more government spending, more deficits, and more national debt. According to the Washington establishment, the free market, free enterprise, and private business and industry never work to advance social goals and the public interest. To the establishment, the private sector is just a den of greed, deception, and rip-offs. READ MORE
Climate Disaster Paper a Disaster of Bad Science
H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Change Weekly
There’s a saying in computer science—”garbage in, garbage out” (GIGO)—referring to the fact computers, operating solely on logical processes, will unquestioningly process flawed, even nonsensical, input data (garbage in) and produce often nonsensical output (garbage out). GIGO in fact applies not just to computers but to all types of analyses and logical arguments. A recent paper in Science, “Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States,” brings GIGO to mind. READ MORE
Should Report Cards Judge Students’ Personal Qualities?
Robert Holland, The Hill
When they have the power to do so, parents choose a child’s school on the basis of such varied criteria as safety, discipline, moral values, curriculum, and the availability of extracurricular opportunities. The template for report cards hasn’t cracked many lists of top concerns. That soon may change. The report cards emerging in our digitally de-personalized age are anything but family-friendly, driven by federal and foundation support for so-called social-emotional learning. READ MORE
Let July 4 Be ACA Independence Day
Jane Orient, Freedom Pub
The U.S. Senate has finally unveiled its heretofore secret plan for pretending to repeal the (Un)Affordable Care Act: the Better Care Reconciliation Act. There ought to be a law against voting “yes” on something you do not understand well enough to explain to your constituents. Then most of this bill would be a “no,” since it’s a bunch of references to provisions of other laws. It appears to be largely about redistributing ACA’s redistribution of wealth; for example, premium subsidies (“tax credits”) and Medicaid funding in expansion and non-expansion states. READ MORE
Jim Lakely is the Vice President and Director of Communications of The Heartland Institute.
